Here it is the day after the 2019 Grammy Awards. All of the trophies have been handed out. The confetti has been swept up from all the after parties. Dan + Shay have taken turns holding each other’s hair as they vomit up their designer drugs from the night before into a hotel suite toilet, and stare at a clock wondering if they can make it in an Uber to their pedicure appointments in Beverley Hills, or if they”ll blow it off. And Kacey Musgraves is all of a sudden one of the biggest names in country music after taking home four Grammys, including Best Country Album, and the biggest prize in all of popular music, Album of the Year.

But there is no rest for the weary. Country music remains very much in peril, especially on one particular front. And for the first time in the cycle of Kacey’s award-winning album Golden Hour, she’s poised to have an impact on the last bastion of resistance to the rehabilitation of the genre: country radio.

Make no mistake, the think pieces were already written before the awards were even handed out, and more will come soon about the injustice that Musgraves has suffered—how she has earned so much awards show hardware, yet has received no radio play. To the outside entertainment media looking into country, they don’t understand how country radio works, specifically that for the format to play something, it has to be promoted to it, and with budgets that often stretch to seven figures.

With Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves and her team purposely did not promote a radio single. Instead, they saved their nickels, spent their promotional budgets on big videos, and hatched a strategy that side stepped country airplay. Words like “misogyny” will be thrown around about how radio has dealt with Kacey Musgraves, but Musgraves is just as much at fault as anyone for the lack of Golden Hour radio play. Until now that is.

Hoping for a big 2019 Grammy Awards—which is exactly what Kacey Musgraves enjoyed—her label MCA Nashville has sent the song “Rainbow” to country radio, and with a push. This isn’t wishful thinking, like when the label sent the Musgraves songs “Butterflies” and “Space Cowboy” to radio stations when Golden Hour was first released in March of 2018 and said, “Here. Either play them, or don’t. We really don’t care.” This is a proper single release, bolstered by the Grammy success, a performance of “Rainbow” on the Grammy presentation, and even a brand new video released shortly after the Grammy Awards concluded (see below).

Saving Country Music was admittedly lukewarm on the Golden Hour project when it was first released, but with the caveat that it included some excellent songs, including “Space Cowboy,” which won the Grammy for Best Country Song, and “Rainbow.” The song is arguably the greatest composition from a record that was the Album of the Year in the Grammy’s estimation. Granted, “Space Cowboy” or “Butterflies” (the latter which also won a Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance) are probably better suited for the mainstream country radio format. They’re more accessible, and infectious. Pushing “Rainbow” is a bold move, but it ultimately could be very successful if the cards fall right, which they have so far heading out of the 2019 Grammy Awards.

Will radio play it? That’s the million-dollar question. The song was already receiving some radio adds and spins ahead of the 2019 Grammys in anticipation of a big night for Kacey. Certainly more stations will at least consider it to celebrate Kacey’s big wins. One of the problems with country radio is it’s such an all-in game. If there’s no clear vision for a song going to #1, there’s almost no reason to play it at all. There are no more moderate successes on radio, which is one of the reasons women are evaporating from the format. But this is a flaw in the system. Even if “Rainbow” goes Top 20, it will be a success for radio, for Kacey Musgraves, and for country music. It may even do better with all the Grammy momentum. But the most important measure must be if it’s given a fair opportunity to find whatever success it has coming to it on the country radio format.

Kacey Musgraves and MCA Nashville are playing a little bit of chicken with radio here. They don’t need country radio. They just proved that with four Grammy Awards, not to mention the CMA for Album of the Year awarded back in November. Releasing “Rainbow” to radio is about something bigger. It’s a big test to see if radio will listen to the will of the people, and play a worthy song from a recognized artist, or continue to be the embarrassment of the genre, and the last bastion of resistance to songs of substance. The awards shows have come around, for the most part at least. So have touring numbers, and other important measures. It’s now time for radio to follow suit, and the success or failure of “Rainbow” could be a huge bellwether.

Congratulations to Kacey Musgraves and all involved in the Grammy wins. But this is no time to rest on laurels. And luckily, they’re not. It’s time to take this Grammy momentum, and make some inroads into radio. And that is exactly what Musgraves and MCA Nashville are trying to do with “Rainbow.”

63 Comments

Gina
February 11, 2019 @
9:28 am

Beautiful. I haven’t been this happy for an artist since Sturgill won best country. Just thinking about the last several years, where we had Chris Stapleton, then Sturgill, Chris again, and then Kacey, it’s been a great 5+ years for Country Album of the Year.

Radio will continue to be an embarrassment. They may pay lip service and spin her songs some, but even if she becomes the queen of country radio, I don’t see that as an all around good thing. Shes not the one we need saving country radio.

We need Tyler Childers, untarnished and unchanged, to continue his charge to the top, and we should all do what we can to build the swell.

The only person at the moment who is worthy and able to “save country music” is Tyler Childers.

I’d hesitate to put the country savior moniker on Childers, or anyone else really. It’s a title that no one can truly live up to. Sure, he’s put out an incredible country record, but he could pull a Sturgill and veer away from country music/experiment with different sounds at any time. I don’t necessarily expect that, but at the same time, I wouldn’t be surprised.

“Country music savior” is an undue burden to lump on the shoulders of any individual artist, and unfair to expect of them. Often other media loves to attribute that to me because of the name of this site, even though I avoid the practice. Ultimately it’s the collective efforts of multiple artists and their fans that will help save country music. And once it’s saved, it will start making the same mistakes again. It’s the battle of evermore. It’s alchemy.

“Rainbow” is not a radio hit. But we felt the same about Cam’s “Burning House” and it did surprisingly well. I think a good comparable here is Kenny Chesney’s “Better Boat.” It was also very sparse and understated, yet well-written and performed. It got to #25 on radio. If “Rainbow” got to #25, I would consider that a success.

This is a beautiful song, but I don’t hear anything that would ever make me consider it to be country. But I guess if you just want to settle for better songs of any genre on mainstream country radio, this would do the trick though.

Kacey Musgraves is in the box entitled “I can’t believe we saw her doing a free promotional show at such a smallish venue just a couple of years ago, and look at her now, she’s all over the grammys.”

Dan + Shay are leading members (allegedly country division) of the box entitled “Musical acts you would never, ever have seen on their own, but have unfortunately seen in concert more than once, because they have opened for headliners you really want to check out live.”

Kacey’s performance was very weak (let’s be honest) and there is absolutely nothing country about the song “Rainbow.” I think last night was an embarrassment for country music. Between Dan + Shay, Kacey, Kane Brown sounding like a moron while presenting, and the disastrous Dolly tribute, country music desperately needs saving more than ever.

“Rainbow” is more country than 90% of what country radio is playing right now, without even really being country. “Rainbow” will not save country music. But it’s a step in the right direction, and a good song.

When I heard it too, it didn’t scream country to me. I’d be interested, Trigger, if you write a piece about piano and country music. Is a piano ballad “country”? What’s the history of pianos in the genre?

“Sunday Morning Coming Down” isn’t all piano, but the piano is very important in any of the versions of the song (Cash, Kris, etc.). It’s the first song that came to mind when you mentioned “piano ballad.”

Along with the great examples above, listen to Jerry Lee Lewis’s classic country albums, or if you want to listen to a more modern example, check out Ward Davis, and especially his recent EP. Ward is one of those artist we love to tout as REAL country, and he’s a piano player, with piano all over his stuff. “Rainbow” is no less country than “I’m Not Lisa.” That’s an excellent example. Willie Nelson almost never used steel guitar, banjo, or fiddle in his music. But Sister Bobbie and her honky tonk piano have been a fixture of his music both recorded and live for 60 years.

Piano is not prominently featured in a lot of traditional country, but I consider it a traditional country instrument. It’s wood and wire, no different than a guitar, fiddle, mandolin, or banjo. You don’t plug it in. Frankly, I would like to hear more of it in country music. It’s a great instrument for compositions like “Rainbow.” It creates an intimacy other instruments can’t match.

– – – – –

There is a time and place to advocate for more country-sounding country music, and it’s an important fight to wage. But I think waging it against “Rainbow” and other songs like it is missing the point. A good song is a good song.

“Rainbow” didn’t start out as a piano song; when Musgraves started performing it in 2013, she accompanied herself on guitar. During the Golden Hour sessions, however, piano was introduced, which changed everything about the song — Musgraves’ vocal delivery became warmer and the crucial last line (“It’ll all be alright”) was added. With these changes, “Rainbow” ended up being the perfect coda to Golden Hour and is well on the way to being one of her most loved songs; it would be fitting if this were the song that broke her to country radio.

David nail “the sound of a million dreams” comes to mind with the piano. Even he says it’s his greatest song ever. Extremely well written by Phil vassar and a very powerful song. Reached around 40 in the charts is all.
Craig Campbell is another artist that plays piano a lot of times onstage.

” Rainbow ” is the wrong song for radio for too many reasons to explore here .
If the labels and radio were serious about airplay for KM , High Horse would have been a mega mega hit …or any of the songs Trigger mentioned above. ‘ Rainbow ‘ is not radio music . Sure ….they may be trying to force radio’s hand ….but after a HUGE night like KM has had they could send radio Kacey singing Happy Birthday and stand the same chance of capitulation by mainstream .
The album found its market …..it found people who ‘ get it ‘ and get her and was rewarded for its artistic merits . So now they are gambling that radio will feel pressured to play a song that obviously wasn’t designed to sell the album to radio in the first place or IT WOULD HAVE BEEN RELEASED FIRST .

You can say it’s a game of chicken. You can also say it’s a big middle finger to all the radio stations that have ignored her music over the years. You can also say this is a good song picked by her and her team to send to radio stations. We shall see how well it performs. One thing is for sure, though: at this point in her career, Musgraves doesn’t need radio stations anymore (nor was it ever her strategy), whether they (begin to) play her or not.

“Obviously the country album means a lot to me because that’s where my heart is, that’s where I grew up. You know, I grew up singing traditional western swing, you know. There’s no way I can get rid of that in me, I love that so much.”

“There are people who always want you to stay the same, and in a way that’s a compliment, because it means they like what you do, but it wouldn’t be doing anybody a favor, or myself a favor, if I stayed in that … for that reason. When we created the music, just in a little backyard studio there in Nashville, we had the creative time to catch our creative wind, experiment, throw paint at the walls, see what we liked, see what we didn’t like. All we knew is that it made us feel good.”

“Alright, let’s take a little bit of Sade, a little bit of Bee Gees, some Daft Punk, some Alison Krauss, some Fleetwood Mac, and let’s put that all in a blender with what I’ve already done, and, you know, find some sort of balance for that. And it was really fun to figure out.”

I don’t know. I still don’t know what to think about Kacey Musgraves. There’s some beautiful tracks and very thoughtful lyrics on the album. As a celebration of quality, yes, thank you. Personally, I can only listen to the album a couple tracks at a time, lest I fall asleep or drift off into daydreaming of my own. As a celebration of country music, it’s a mixed bag. Willie could be sleepy too, but there’s something more sedate with Kacey, especially this album. There’s no rough edges. It’s entirely clean, immaculate, sanitized, with everything perfectly in place, not unlike Kacey’s own perfect genetics. Like I said, I don’t know what to think, other than these random thoughts, for what they’re worth.

I think at least part of what you’re getting at is the authenticity question and the notion some people have that being polished is inherently bad and makes the music somehow less authentic. Which I’ve always found silly because it doesn’t get more polished than George Strait and the only people who could honestly question his authenticity are those who have a knee-jerk dislike for anything that’s popular.

“…that being polished is inherently bad and makes the music somehow less authentic.”

That’s a valid point, Andrew. I wouldn’t say that it’s in any way less authentic, but you’re right about how it can be taken that way. This is, in my reckoning, Kacey’s most authentic record and the best expression of what she wants to do with her music. But it is best categorized as easy listening, adult contemporary, adult pop, folk-pop, and only secondarily as country. As someone who listens to country, classic rock, and blues almost exclusively (aside from a lot of 16th-19th century classical and choral), this is not appealing to me. Her vocals are especially ethereal and angelic, not at all what I expect from any country singer, no matter how polished in their production. I’ve listened to almost every George Strait album, many on repeat, and I never had the impression — however polished — that I was listening to “easy listening / adult contemporary pop.” So, whatever it is, there is more to my impression than simply the sanitized production.

Trig, what’s your problem with Dan and Shay’s haircuts? You always bring that up… their current haircuts are much better that the skin shaved back/sides cut they were sporting a few years ago.
…. Also, great article!!! Hope Rainbow is a hit on the radio. The other day in a store, I heard High Horse playing. It seems that radio has multiple Musgraves songs in rotation, but Rainbow is the real single

Who listens to radio country? Country music isn’t played on the radio.Rainbow isn’t country. Kacey Musgraves is not going to make country radio better with songs like rainbow. Winning awards for country with pop music doesnt help country artist.

….that’s because its TIMELESS , Square Root . Timeless in lyric sentiment , in arrangement , in its nod to the craft of melody , in her defaulting to the message and not vocal acrobatics or forced ‘soul ‘. Its honest on all fronts and will sound as good 30 years from now because of that…..

In general a ballad stands a much better chance of achieving that goal . In particular , however , a well written , well-crafted song will survive the ‘campfire test ‘: one voice , one instrument and the narrative . Most pop and contemporary music relies far too much on trendy style , groove , image of the artist , appealing to a ‘ conditioned ‘ demographic , vocal hooks rather than meaningful lyrics , etc…. this approach will almost guarantee your work has a short shelf life .

The reasons, in part , that Fleetwood Mac and , say , Creedence Clearwater and many many country classics have remained so popular is that most of that material will survive the ‘campfire test ‘….simple timeless lyric and music that can be played by anyone who knows three chords . Band not required . Indeed , tere are a few exceptions ( Bohemian Rhapsody comes to mind…. but only , I believe , because of the song’s association with iconic movies and various resurrections ).

Lets see if anyone is singing Cardi B or Dua Lipa , Drake or Monique or ____________ around a campfire in 30 years .

This is exactly what I was thinking. You made my point well. I think this whole thing speaks to the larger problem of music across the board and why I think people like me are forgiving of the fact it’s not completely country. It’s a good song, which are far and few in between in any genre these days.

The truth is Kacey probably doesn’t care about radio much and she shouldn’t. Radio is dead. What Kacey needs to care about is here current headlining tour. She needs to pique interest so she can sell out the theaters and move to arenas. If Musgraves is going to be big, it’s going to be as a touring act with a wide following, like Church and Stapleton.

Sadly……more radio spins = more tickets sold. It’s been that way in the music business since the dawn of time unless you have massive word of mouth like big metal band ie: Iron Maiden who can fill enormodomes without airplay.

That’s probably a good rule of thumb, but not a universal law. Musgraves has sold out places like the Beacon Theater in New York City without much radio plays. In other words, she does have “massive word of mouth”. Sure, maybe radio plays will enable her to have concerts at stadiums, but I’m not sure that’s the kind of artist she aspires to be anyway.

I really want to like this but it’s just, like, lame pop music. It’s lyrically interesting, the songs are well written, and it’s not offensive. If I had a 13 year old daughter and she were obsessed with it I’d be happy — at least it’s not CardiB’s list of places one can pop one’s pussy — but it’s just dull. What I don’t understand is coverage like this from The Ringer: (https://www.theringer.com/music/2018/3/30/17178148/kacey-musgraves-golden-hour) that says “‘Golden Hour,’ is country music to get high to. Go with it.”

It’s baffling. There’s plenty of stoner-friendly country music — I’ve seen Margo Price do 12 minute versions of her tunes, switching from guitar drums for a dual-drummer Grateful Dead-esque vibe. Elizabeth Cook, Lydia Loveless, is good when you are stoned. There’s tons of it. But this is just vocoder pop music with a semi-audible banjo track on a few tunes. It’s just lame and if this is the best that female-fronted Country can do on the pop charts, it’s a sad fucking day.

Meanwhile no one except for music obsessives and long-time readers of this blog know who Sarah Shook is.

I remember when “Merry ‘Go Round” was making a dent at country radio. One of the local stations played it as the Jump It Or Dump It song of the week, asked for listener input, and played a few responses on the air. One guy called it and said, “Dump it. We already have a Miranda Lambert, so we don’t need a Kacey.” Yeah, because every bro country guy sounds the same, but god forbid there are two country women that have the same style.

I hope country radio will now give Kacey the same type of rollout that they gave Chris Stapleton after he cleaned up at an awards show, but my guess is they’ll say, Kacey, it’s great that you cleaned up at an awards show, but because you don’t have a muscle hanging down between your legs, we can’t play you, sorry!

I’m so glad she won album of the year, and I hope she gets a lot more recognition because she deserves it. But I feel like Kacey and her team are not making the best choices to leverage all the award show success, and I say that as someone who really likes “Rainbow”. They are making a silly choice by pushing that song for airplay. Rainbow is a great ending track for the album, but it is not a single that is going to hook new listeners onto her. Space Cowboy is way better suited for country radio. I would be happy to be proven wrong.

“Rainbow” is country music the same way Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why” is a jazz tune. I’d happily unwind listening to either one. Don’t Know Why didn’t save jazz (if that happens to be a cause) and Rainbow won’t save country. I also won’t change the station if either on were played on the radio.

Rainbow is another gem from Kacey Musgraves’ splendid album. The 4 awards she received at the Grammy’s are so deserved! Particularly the most prestigious, the best album of the year, that only 4 country artists won in the history… 3 of them are female artists. It’s time for country radio to play all those awesome country female artists who write and sing some of the most beautiful songs of the genre. I hope that “Rainbow” will be played, because it’s country and it’s beautiful. Congratulations, Kacey Musgraves!

I honestly don’t think MCA Nashville will try to court country radio after Kacey won “Album of the Year.” With already a broken track record in the incestuous C-boy-band country radio the record label would be foolish trying to cram “Rainbow” down the throat of the four or five programme directors who have a say in country radio.
No, I predict that they go all in and will market her to everything but country radio (pop, AC and AC adult which combined is a much bigger market anyway). Think Elton John coming back as a woman (no pun intended) in the 21st century appealing to the kids.
Next up “High Horse” as the next single.

Don’t hate the album, but it is syrupy sweet and generic. Does not evoke any feelings other than nostalgia with her song, Mother. I do not think this album was in the same neighborhood as By the way, I Forgive You, which I was rooting for. The Joke performance was excellent. So good.

I find Kacey Musgraves voice so soothing, and this song is lyrically and sonically beautiful. I am so happy she found success without the help of country radio, the Grammy’s win was a big middle finger to those old ass hats! We saw her in Boston last month as she was fantastic, she doesn’t need the big pyrotechnics to put on an amazing show. Kacey comes off as very authentice and I think that is why people are rooting for her, she is definetly not trying to play the game thats for sure…………….

meh, who cares. Country radio is lost. can’t remember the last time I actually listened terrestrial radio. it’s something I keep on when I’m not home to make it sound like someone is in the house. Winning a Grammy could do more harm to her career and help it. How many times have they handed out the big prize to someone, just to have them fall off the map a year later. I hope I’m wrong, but once the novelty wears off, she’ll be yesterdays news sooner than later.

Country radio: “the embarrassment of the genre.” Perfectly describes it. I hope the radio execs don’t let the screen door hit them in the ass any longer as the horde of listeners, like myself, have given up on mainstream country. It’s oldies country (and rock), my own catalog or talk radio I listen to now.

Rainbow is a beautiful song, and I love every album Kacey has put out so far… that being said, I think their money would have been better spent with a legitimate push of “Space Cowboy” to radio… That song is (in my opinion) more accessible and more radio-friendly. Plus it’s already got some help from being out for so long… But what do I know, I’m not working for a label or releasing music.

Just have to point out something…was just listening to Vince Gill’s I still believe in you and it made me think of this discussion. How many of ya’ll question that song? How country it really is? Because it’s a considered a beautiful classic at this point. I could see Rainbow being that especially with the crap that surrounds it. Is it perfect? No but its pretty damn good. All I can say is I believe Kacey making a splash here would be great for radio.

It gives me a big pinch that I still haven’t heard a single song from her album on my local yocal western station. So I’ll continue to stream her live performances on my smart tv. I live in the heart of the wild, wild west and I’m so tired of power ballads.